Show and Prove: Bay Swag
Words: Georgette Klein
Editor’s Note: This article appears in the Fall 2025 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available on the XXL website.
Bringing Harriet Tubman into the rap conversation is a bold choice, but Bay Swag is up for the challenge. In the offices of his label, Standard Records, in midtown Manhattan, he’s watching the music video for his song, named after the great freedom fighter who escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad in 1849.
“Every time I hit a 10, put a 6 aside and shove it in / They need to free all the brothers, where the hell is Harriet Tubman?” the 24-year-old rapper asks in the video, surrounded by friends. Anyone who respects her plight can easily answer this question. It was pouring rain under the overcast sky outside the office window. On this sultry summer day in early August, the bad weather had no impact on Bay’s parade. Following the release of his debut album Damaged Thoughts in July, he’s eager to drop visuals in a week that will put his name and music on fans’ minds first.
The Queens native, who proudly represents New York City and has QGTM (short for Queens Gets Money) tattooed on his neck, has been preparing for moments like this since he started honing in 10 years ago. “You just have to wait your turn and be patient,” Bay insisted. He did just that last February when “Fisherrr,” a flirty and sexy song he co-produced with Cash Cobain, became a hit in New York and beyond.
More than 40 million Spotify plays later, a remix with Ice Spice helped bring in 17 million YouTube views, and his lyrics soundtracked social media posts for legions of bad guys across platforms, bringing Bay Swag’s slick lifestyle rap and sticky melodies to even more ears. This rising rhyme is part of New York rap’s renaissance, one that drives positivity rather than suddenly disappearing.
Before bringing his music to the masses, Bay Swag (born Lloyd McKenzie Jr.) was a fun-loving kid running around the block, playing hide-and-seek and chase with his friends in Jamaica, Queens. As an only child, he lived at home with his mother, where music was always heard. My mother has worked for Geico selling insurance for more than 20 years. At age 5, little Lloyd was driving with his father, listening to Jay-Z’s hustler mentality through his rhymes. As Bay grew up, the ethos of Juelz Santana and Dipset drew him to the Harlem rap scene. He also likes Trey Songz’s R&B melodies.
At 12 years old, Bay watched the rap lifestyle unfold right before his eyes. His uncle, Windsor “Slow” Lubin, launched SlowBucks, a popular New York clothing line, and he has the brand’s warehouse in Queens, which is frequented by rappers, actors and athletes. “They all loved me because I was ahead of my time,” Bay recalled. “I was so happy. So, I thought, you know what, why not start making music? I’m around it, so why not take advantage of it?”
He wrote his first song in a friend’s basement studio. With the help of his father, Lloyd “Bay Lloyd” McKenzie, Junior began to continually enter the studio. Lloyd McKenzie is a former party promoter who has worked with artists such as A Tribe Called Quest. Initially, his father had already written the beat and the song. “Everything just fell into place for me,” shared Bey, a graduate of Benjamin Cardozo High School. “All I had to do was show up. So, now when he went to jail, I didn’t feel that way anymore. So, I was kind of lost, you know?” Out of necessity, Bay began writing his own bars.
Over the next few years, the self-proclaimed “Young OG” began to put in the work. His father was convicted in 2017 for allegedly ordering a 2012 hit on Brandon Woodward, a law student who moonlighted as a drug dealer. McKenzie Sr. was sentenced to 85 years to life in prison for second-degree murder and drug trafficking. Bay Swag incorporates his pain into his music. “Daddy’s locked up ’cause my daddy’s locked up” / They tried to say he killed a nigger in Manhattan / The jury believed that nigga / I’ll get you out, daddy, swear I don’t have a hat,” he rapped on his 2017 song “Saucin.” “Music is my therapy,” he explains.
By then, he had his career locked in. His potential was bolstered by local gigs with Diddy’s son King Combs as part of the CYN collective in 2015, Bay’s 2016 single “Rumors” which brought him some online attention, and the same year his mixtape “Leader of the New School” earned him a short-lived publishing deal with Interscope Records. In 2020, he continued to release more songs and connect with the right people, like rapper and producer Cash Cobain. After releasing his Ahead of My Time project in 2022, Bay mixed different sounds to see what would stick, and the Auto-Tune-infused “Quagen” did the job. “It brought me back to life,” Bey admits.
Songs like the emotionally driven “Therapy” in 2023, and the hit “Fisherrr” a year later. “Not only is it positive, but we bring everyone together,” he said of the latter song’s success. “Good feelings and positive vibes.” Hoping to capitalize on the song’s impact, Bay joined Cash as the opening act for Ice Spice’s Y2K! A world tour took place in the United States last summer.
It’s clear that Bay Swag never stops working – rapping is his only job. There is a deeper meaning to his motivations. “My dad was incarcerated and my mom just beat cancer,” he revealed. “How could I give up? I have people relying on me.” Standard Records co-founder Deon Douglas noted the rapper’s work ethic when he signed him in 2024. “He sticks to what he does,” said Douglas, who is also a co-founder of 11AM Management, where he helps guide the careers of artists like Lil Tjay. “[Bay Swag] Do the work. He keeps improving, he keeps learning. You see him all the time in the studio or on video shoots, interviews. So right off the bat, that’s what I appreciate about him. “
This dedication is evident in everything Bay Swag does. In July of this year, he released his debut album Damaged Thoughts, which featured collaborations with Cash, Young Thug, Meek Mill and Quavo. Songs like “Rich Junkies” featuring Kyle Rich and “Billie Jean” featuring Sheff G are on the rise. Bay completed his Damaged Thoughts tour in November and released new album Swiggsy that same month. “Cafe Regal” and “Proceed” with Zeddy Will are a few of the tracks played on the project. Future plans include releasing more videos and focusing on her own brand. Bay Swag launched Nothing Bout Us Regular in 2024 and signed four artists. “It’s just the age of the young CEO, man,” he affirmed.
must.
Listen to Bay Swag’s Damaged Thoughts album
Listen to Bay Swag’s Swiggsy album
The Fall 2025 issue of XXL Magazine, which features Bay Swag’s interview, is available for purchase here . This issue also includes cover story interviews with Joey Bada$$ and JID, interviews with Chance The Rapper, Curren$y, Hit-Boy, Rob49, KenTheMan, Wallo267, Hurricane Wisdom, Hanumankind, Babyfxce E, Ghostface Killah, Conway The Machine, Pluto, TiaCorine, Isaiah Falls, comedian Josh Joshson, SiriusXM Vice President of Music talks to Pandora Joshua “J1” Raiford about how album releases have changed over the years, highlighting Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out album and more.
